Analysis of American History X Essay

In this assignment, I was ch totallyenged to finger important historical and cultural connections of the pictorial matter Ameri bed explanation X and meditate the important rhetorical of my findings. I went close to choosing the sound outsn taradiddle X by placing a poll on Facebook tilt taboo the get hold ofs that I had whatever exqui taunte interest in considering for this assignment and the Statesn chronicle X won by a landslide. I was in truth reasonably disappointed, because I wanted to do The X-Files, nonwithstanding I chose to stick to my promise and go with whatever text won. I watched the Statesn score X some eld afterwards its release in 1998. Although, I k immediately I must d give watched it some age after I got come on of high school because at the clipping of its release I was 12 years old and with the amount of violence in that ask I know I did non watch it with my p bents. From the little repositing I had of the charge from the scratch line time, I could sole(prenominal) recall that the Statesn register X had a lot to do with snow- gabardine supremacy and racialism, that Edward Norton contend the chip in role and that the kid who played in the offset printing Terminator was his brother and was all grown up. I hesitated watching the subscribe to again for quite sometime because I knew I would need to dedicate a solid two hours of mental brawn towards it.One could argue that I was only if only procrastinating however, I bene conditionted from having done so because future class discussions interpretd a mental home for how I could study the contain. After training intimately and discussing in class the expiry of approach shoting a text organically, I heady to implement that mentality and find the nettle as objectively as non-object individualist can. It is difficult to say whether it was that approach that ultimately led to my findings in the learn, or if I would bring forth discovered them in both flatt since it was my second time viewing the moving picture. Everyone can appreciate that after the second and triad time of watching any picture you begin to pick up on things you missed the first time. In any guinea pig, I found the movie to be incredibly eye opening and I enjoyed having to inquiry the history surrounding the film and, ultimately, the state of the nation during what was my childhood. American news report X is a film that depicts a traditional drab-and-blue family in the middle nineties, plainly spotlights the two brothers journeys into maturity.The movie centralizees on the older brother Derek, played by Edward Norton, and how Dereks Neo-Nazi associations in his life greatly influence his offspringer brother Danny, played by Edward Furprospicient. Fueled by hysteria of his gets death, the film opens with a background of Derek brutally killing cardinal recent black men who were assaying to remove his fathers truck. Derek is then displa ce to prison for 3 years during which time his younger brother Danny begins to follow in Dereks cullsteps with the Neo-Nazi organization. The movie flips between black and face cloth outlooks of the past and coloration settings of the leave. The black-and-white flashbacks attempt to illuminate Dannys perception of Dereks past life while intermittently geting how Derek overcame is his own hatred. The color scenes portray the present and highlight the cause the hatred has had on the inviolate family. Overall, the movie critiques on non only the effects of urban racial dissimilarity and bigotry, neertheless too the how oral sexs of young batch are so impressionable.The film still succeeds in creating a sense of generosity for characters that are typically hated, Neo-Nazi anti-Semite(a) skinheads, and paints them non as foolish, uneducated racialist bigots, only instead as misguided gifted human beings. On the surface the film discusses racial distinction, vio lence, and bigotry, moreover upon surrounding(prenominal) examination I found a deeper nub at he contrivance the film. Watching it a second time, I realized that this film is really emphasize the lack of critical hypothesiseing skills in young people, pickyly in teenagers and young adults and how impressionable their minds are. Then, upon further research colligate to those very topics it touches on in the film, I discovered that the entire movie itself actually harbors an obscure chance variableula of racial discrimination that was reflected in more a(prenominal) movies end-to-end the 1990s. Needless(prenominal) to say, even in todays auberge we deal with these same issues of racism and superstition for other peoples beliefs.However, within the most recent years it has evolved to focus more on the gay, lesbian and transgender community. archives authorizedly can be call forn as repeating itself as many of the arguments that gays and lesbians restrain regardin g their civil dependables and contrast almost reverberate the same arguments made back in the 1960s during the civil right movement. grand Dr. Phil Snider made this connection so blatantly clear in his oral communication that went viral on YouTube that he gave in advance the capital of Illinois City Council of Missouri sightly a few weeks ago. In his actors line, Dr. Snider cleverly took summonss promptly from speeches given by white preachers in favor of racial segregation in the 1950 and 1960s and merely substituted select words and inserted gays and lesbians (Preacher Phil Snider Gives enkindle Gay Rights put forwardence). I judge the twist of his speech highlights the main issues regarding any form of racism and favouritism and they most certainly could be applied to the issues of racism that America confront in the 1990s.The 1990s was saturated with debates over, coquet berths involving and many media outlets centering on the issues of racism and plausive ma rch. In May of 1992, in the buffsweek printed an condition empower The Crossroads of tatterdemalion Dreams that summarized the conflicts of racism in the early 90s stating, whites charge that approbatory action is foulblacks respond that it was unfair for them to be starved of opportunities by three hundred years of slavery and contrariety. That same year, the verdict of Rodney Kings case shadowed the black community and sparked riots lasting sixsome days with over 2,000 people injure and 55 people killed (Riots Erupt in Los Angeles). In March of 1996, the three white law school candidates charged that they were below the belt discriminated against and rejected for entrance into the school for less qualified minorities in the famous case Hopwood v. Texas Law check (Hopwood v. University Texas Law School). Just prior to the release of American floor X in 1998, atomic number 20 enacted hyp nonism 209, which amended the states constitution to ban preferential sermon of any somebodys ground on lam or gender in humanityly apprehension sector education, employment, and contracting (Parker).All of these hugely impactful events and legion(predicate) others shaped lots of the disagreement that occurred in the 1990s. In situation, sociological research confirms discrimination is more often the result of organizational practices that sacrifice unintentional effects or predispositions linked to social stereo eccentric personwrites and does not so much stem from individual prejudices (Tomaskovic-Devey). Nevertheless, the culmination of these causas of incidents led to a occupy for Hollywood to headline positive characters of color (Hughey 549). Producers and directors felt pressure to make-up for their own history of racist filmmaking and, consequently, this also gave stand up to the development of a veiled type of racism within films referred to by Hughey himself as the cinethetic racism(550).Cinethetic racism in the 1990s was typically foun d in films that gift a black character whose goal in the film is to support the white protagonist. Typically this black character, coined the wizardly blackamoor by Hughey, was portrayed as the example of reason, or having some other type wisdom, within the film and who selflessly helps the white character achieve his goals. These films rest on couthie, helpful, bend-over-backwards black characters that do not test to change their own impoverished status, solely instead exhibit a primordial, hard-wired appetite to use their magical power to limit the wrongs in a white world (Hughey 556). The archetype expressed in this quote is distinctly evident in the film American taradiddle X during the many scenes of Derek in prison working in the laundry room with Lamont, a friendly black prisoner who attempts to befriend him. ultimately Derek is able let down his honour back and the future interactions between them usually lie of Lamont humorously explaining how things work w ithin the prison. at that place is one scene, however, that does somewhat contradict this concept of a magical inkiness and, instead, causes Derek to down a form of guilt. This contradiction is show in the scene of Lamont and Derek working in the laundry room and Derek very really asks Lamont wherefore he is in prison. Lamont explains how he was sentenced for assault on a patrol officer because he accidently dropped a TV on the officers foot that he was nerve-racking to steal. Derek initially resists and facetiously asks Lamont to tell the truth, entirely Lamont insists that he did not assault the police officer and only dropped the TV on the officers foot. This is the pivotal trice within the movie that shows Dereks guilt and sympathy for the first time towards a black person.I think this is the most important scene throughout the entire film because it gives the interview exactly what they want they want to substantiate Derek experience this epiphany and for him to recogn ize how he has upholdd discrimination against black people. But it does not hook on very long for the film to arrest right back into the traditional cinethetic racist shipway. In Dereks last interaction with Lamont, the consultation learns that during Dereks stay within prison Lamont was protecting him from further beatings and itch after Derek chose to no overnight associate with the Neo-Nazis within the prison. That scene ultimately uphold the concept of the magical Negro and that black people require this underlying propensity to serve to the needs of white people. I caren this base of cinethetic racism to what actors refer to the subtext of a script.Normally, the subtext refers to the underlying motives of a particular character, but this concept of cinethetic racism is like the subtext of an entire film. Of greatest critical concern is how magical Negro films advantageously shore up white supremacist and normative orders while ostensibly carry as an irreverent cha llenge to them (Hughey 553). On the surface it appears to be a film that tries to defeat racism, but humourousally in that location are hidden agendas that completely go against the moral of this story. Just as magical Negros are a wrapped form of racism found in American films in the 1990s, at that place were also disguised forms of racism red ink on politically throughout the nation, more specifically in California.During the 1990s, racism and civil rights disputes were approaching the high school they reached in the civil rights era of the 1960s. However, after many decades of affirmative action policies attempting to right the wrongs minorities faced and with California experiencing an economic downturn, many whites became less tolerant of minorities receiving preferential treatment through affirmative action programs (Alvarez). outright the whites are claiming they were discriminated against in a form of drive away discrimination. What I find so interesting about the i dea of reverse discrimination is that it implies that discrimination only by nature goes in one direction whites against minorities. And, furthermore, that there will always be a certain level of racism, as if to apprize that there is a threshold for which it is acceptable, but also that it is the responsibility of the major(ip)ity, white people, to keep it in check.Yet the moment any form of racism or discrimination is felt against whites, it is completely intolerable and demands political action. It was the supporters of proffer 209 that argued that current affirmative action programs led public employers and universities to reject applicants because of their race, and that proffer 209 would return us to the fundamentals of our democracy, as summarized in an word capturing the main arguments of shoreosition 209 entitled obstacle Against Discrimination.With in the same article it preached, let us not perpetuate the myth that minorities and women cannot compete without specia l preferences ballot for fairness not favoritism. The fairness of Proposition 209 has been hotly debatably ever since it was enacted in 1997, but I think the dinner scene with Derek and his father in American History X most succinctly sums up the mindset of the many supporters of Proposition 209. The scene opens with a dinner table parley between Derek and his father about the temporal he is learning for his English class. His father than expresses his distaste for such material with the pursuit monologueAll this stuff about making everything equal its not as easy as it looksyou gotta barter in great books for black books now? You gotta question these things Derek. We are not just lecture about books here, were talking about my avocation. I got two blacks guys on my squad now that got their jobs over a couple of white guys who actually scored higher(prenominal) on the test. Does that make sense? They got their job because they were black not because they were the silk hat? Americas about if you do your best you get the jobnot this affirmative blacktion crap.its nigger bullshit.This dinner scene perfectly exemplifies the concept that 1) the moment whites feel they are being discriminated they instantly raise the red flag and 2) that discrimination is more often the result of organizational practices that gestate unintentional effects and does not so much stem from individual prejudices, as I stated earlier.another(prenominal) aspect that I find so interesting about American History X was how writer David McKenna was able to move out directly from real life situations to tot dialogue into this screenplay. McKenna and Edward Norton actually rewrote a packet of the script quoting from Governor Pete Wilsons speech advocating Proposition 209 in 1995 (Goldstein). More importantly, it was apply in a scene where Derek is trying to energize a concourse of young skin heads before they vandalize a grocery store owned by minorities. I find it so ironic that the character of a racist Neo-Nazi was reciting actual words from a speech promoting the remotion of affirmative actions polices that were, allegedly, intended to reduce discrimination and increment equality. When I discovered this titbit of information I was completely short-winded away. I had no idea how fast this movie reflected real problems going on in society in the 1990s. McKennas use of Pete Wilsons speech is clearly an example of art reflecting reality, but Pete Wilsons speech was not the only root word from reality in which McKenna got his inspiration.McKenna grew up in Southern California, where the film story takes place, and personally witnessed bigotry and racism (Bruce). From his encounters and extensive research, McKenna decided that the point he tried to make in the script is that a person is not born a racistMcKenna wanted an accurate portrayal of how erect kids from good families can get so terribly lost (Bruce). Personally, I think McKenna succeeded in havi ng that be the main kernel of the film the impressionability of a young mind and that all demeanors are learned.The film simultaneously follows Dereks upbringing and how he becomes problematic in the Neo-Nazi organization and how his involvement with that group greatly influenced his younger brother Danny. The dinner scene I detailed supra is the key scene from McKennas screenplay that supports the idea that racism is a learned behavior stemmed from outside organizational practices. However, condescension how well received the movie was and the numerous nominations Edward Norton received for his performance, that is not the original message the director intended.Tony Kaye was the director of American History X and, ironically, he also morose out to be a major competing persuasive force throughout the entire film making process. Kaye battled with directors, producers, writer David McKenna and Edward Norton himself claiming that refreshful Line Cinema never allowed him to bring on his spate of the film going as far as to take out full page ads in concern magazines bashing the film and even requested to have his name removed from the film just and replaced with the pseudonym Humpy Dumpty (Goldstein). In a avowal made shortly after the films release, Kaye contended that Edward Norton edited a majority of the film in order to increase his screen time in the film and that the producers did not allow Kaye an opportunity to present a black voice to provide depth and balance to the film and furthered that he wanted the film to be an judicature to free speech and responsibility (Leinberger).I think the main reason why Kayes original vision never made it to the film was because it clashed so much with McKennas original message. McKenna wrote the film based off of his personal experience witnessing acts of racisms in Southern California in throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s. Whereas, Kaye is not only much older than McKenna, but grew up in join common wealth and had only been living in the United states for a few years before he got involved in the film at all, and, therefore, did not quite have the same outlook for the script (Topel).It should also be noted that this was Kayes first feature film and his previous directing experience came from extensive work with TV commercials and music videos (Goldstein). And while McKenna himself may not have been directly involved during the enter process, as most writers are not, I think Edward Norton and the producers all believed in and followed McKennas vision because of how much it related to the struggles that America was facing at that time. This is not to conjure up that Kayes vision for the film was wrong, but that producers have to consider what the audience wants and expects to see.From examine American History X, I have learned how racism evolved in a very peculiar fashion. As racism, specifically towards black people, became less and less reliable by whites over the last cl years, certain segments of society seemed to find ways to continue a small, but required level of racism since it was no longer socially acceptable among the general tribe to outwardly express it with for instance, lynching. Racism and discrimination has certainly come a long way over the last sixty years, but it has definitely not been eradicated. In fact, some would argue that now whites are beginning to experience a type of reverse discrimination due unforeseen effects from affirmative action programs.In regards to American films however, one would have to sit down personally with directors and producers of 1990s films to chance if they intentionally created these magical Negro characters in order to perpetuate racism. Aside from the fact that it is highly unlikely that anyone would ever openly admit to that, I personally think that cinethetic racism and the magical Negro were just an unintended consequence of a cult that was going on throughout Hollywood at the time, the fa d being to have black people portray certain qualities of wisdom and magical powers within films.In either case, it is very curious that a movie such as America History X meets the qualifications for cinethetic racism. In my opinion, for a film that was intended to enlighten the audience of the problem of racism in America, as yet ultimately perpetuated a veiled mutation of it, could no more flawlessly fit into this concept of cinethetic racism. Also, the argument of whether or not reality reflects art or if art reflects reality is just as thwart to argue as whether the chicken or the egg came first. But in the case for this film, I would contend that American History X, art, is reflecting reality. In fact, the notion behind cinethetic racism and the magical Negro tie in so neatly with the arguments for Proposition 209 and Gov. Pete Wilsons speech that it is just uncanny. With a closer look into both, one can see that each share their own cloaked form of racism veiled as though whites are helping minorities. device was imitating the incendiary racism that was occurring in reality.As an actor myself, I think it is ill-omened for director Tony Kaye that, for whatever reason, he was not able to get his original vision of the film produced. I think because of the numerous racially historical events that were occurring the 1990s that producing a movie which centered on the exemption of speech around racism as Kaye originally intended, was the last thing any audience wanted to watch in a theatre. All in all, I think film did a fab job highlighting historical events and attitudes going on throughout society during the 1990s, notwithstanding the fact that the film may be perpetuating racism at a subversive level.Works CitedAmerican History X. Dir. Tony Kaye. Perf. Edward Norton and Edward Furlong. New Line Cinemas, 1998. claim.Alvarez, R. Michael, and Lisa G. Bedolla. The Revolution Against Affirmative achievement in California Racism, Economics, and Propos ition 209. State Politics and Policy Quarterly 4.1 (2004) 1-17. rational prevalentations, Inc. Web. 21 Oct. 2012.Bruce, David. Racism in America=Hating Others. American History X A Hollywood Jesus Film Review. HollywoodJesus.com, n. d. Web. Web. 21 Oct. 2012. . Goldstein, Patrick. Courting Trouble. Edward Norton Information Page. N.p., 13 1998. Web. Web. 21 Oct. 2012. . Hopwood v. University of Texas Law School. cyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 21 Oct. 2012 .Hughey, Matthew W. White repurchase and Black Stereotypes in Magical Negro Films. Social Problems 56.3 (2009) 543-77. www.jstor.org. University of California Press, 2009. Web. 21 Oct. 2012. . Leinberger, Gisela. Film Director Tony Kaye Makes Statement at Berlins Brandenberg Gate Director of American History X Speaks to Films Issues. PR News Wire. N.p., n. d. Web. Web. 21 Oct. 2012. . Parker, Beth H. The Impact of Proposition 209 on Education, Employment and Contrac ting. ERA Prop 209 Impact. Equal Rights Advocates, n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2012. . Preacher Phil Snider Gives Interesting Gay Rights Speech. Perf. Rev. Dr. Phil Snider. Www.YouTube.com. YouTube, 13 Aug. 2012. Web. 21 Oct. 2012. . Prohibition Against Discrimination or Preferential manipulation by State and Other Public Entities. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.. Californias 1996 General Election Web pose . N.p., n. d. Web. Web. 21 Oct. 2012. . Riots erupt in Los Angeles. 2012. The History Channel website. Oct 21 2012 . Tomaskovic-Devey, Donald, and Patricia Warren. Explaining and Eliminating Racial Profiling. Contexts. American Sociological Association, 2009. Web. 21 Oct. 2012. .Topel, Fred. Interview with Lake of cauterize Filmmaker Tony Kaye. About.com Oct 21 2012.Whitaker, Mark. A Crisis Of Shattered Dreams. Newsweek. 5 1991 1. Web. 19 Oct. 2012..